The first game of Group B between England and Iran will start at the 40,000-capacity Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar at 7 pm on Monday.

Given the historically fraught relations between the two countries, the only chance of the football teams facing off would have come in a global tournament and they managed to avoid each other until now, reports Aljazeera.

England are favourites to progress from the group based on their ranking, previous results and tournament history.

However, Gareth Southgate’s team have lost three and drawn three matches in their UEFA Nations League fixtures this summer that led to their relegation.

On the other hand, Iran will look to exploit this weakness with star striker Mehdi Taremi at the front of the attack, supported by Sardar Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

Iran’s Portuguese Coach Carlos Queiroz will look to employ his defence-heavy tactics to contain the English attacking talent. Iran have had a decent run of results in recent friendlies with wins over Uruguay and Lebanon.

During the second stage of their World Cup campaign, Iran won eight of their 10 games and topped their group ahead of South Korea.

Iran will hope to come away from their opening encounter with at least a point.

Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul